A new year has begun and it's time to get back on the blogging horse. Per my usual habit of taking stock of the previous year's posts, here are the top ten most-commented posts from last year. The "radical" post garnered more comments than any post in the history of this blog...

Student Affairs Job Search: Questions and ChallengesThe most important concept that I can share with anyone who is conducting a search is that things rarely go as planned. Best of luck to all of the student affairs graduate students who will be finishing their degree programs and embarking on the next step of their career.

Student Affairs Job Search: Personal BrandingWhile I have not always agreed with some of the tenets of the phenomenon known as "personal branding," I do value the importance of certain aspects. What happens when someone searches for you on Google?

Where are the Radical Practitioners?Radical Student Affairs Practitioners ... Do they exist? Does our profession allow them to exist? Do we nurture them or isolate them? Are they leading our associations or quietly leading from the periphery? Does Student Affairs deconstruct the status quo or do we sustain it? This post generated a lot of questions. Some people were supportive, some took umbrage, and several engaged in heaping amounts of critical thought.

Relentlessly Reinventing Student AffairsIf we are preparing our future Student Affairs practitioners for brick-based careers, what happens when our students are digital? This question continues to be pondered by a lot of people in student affairs.

NASPA Technology Knowledge Community: What’s next?With technology in Student Affairs being such a broad topic, the rally points for community generation within the TKC are almost always on the move. For example, social media channels have been inserted into the purview of the TKC in large part because they do not have any other knowledge community to align with in terms of overall strategy and web communications integration. The TKC conversation at this year's NASPA Annual Conference should be intriguing.

Conference Sessions Do Not Have to SuckUnfortunately, Student Affairs sessions at most conferences are horrid. A tad bit harsh perhaps, but seriously, we have got to improve the quality of our conference sessions. The focus has to be on quality instead of quantity.

You Are Not a Social Media Jedi, Ninja, Sherpa, or GuruOn Twitter profiles, blog bios, and Facebook pages across the social media sphere, inflated social media titles are rampant. People claiming to be experts with social media as they bask in the warm glow of 7 Twitter followers. This was the most-retweeted/shared post from last year. May the force be with you...

When Bad Hires Happen to Good PeopleWhether you agree with Shinn, disagree, and/or take umbrage, I bet you have an opinion. Here's a quick Q and A where he discusses his thoughts about "bad hires" and "good people." Jeremiah Shinn's thoughts on hiring in student affairs should be read by everyone who participates in the hiring process.

Ohio State's Cardale Jones Asked Us a Terrific QuestionSuspending Cardale Jones from participating (even if he wasn't going to actually get to play) in a game sends a strong message: you work for us. And, it's not just Ohio State, this is happening at schools all over the United States. A student athlete posts something on Facebook or tweets something on Twitter and all of a sudden their accounts are shut down. Let's hope that 2013 is the year when student athletes are engaged in educative social media experiences. The punitive way that athletic departments are dealing with their students is woefully inadequate.

2013 is going to be an exciting year in the Inside Higher Ed blogosphere! If there's something that you would like me to blog about, please feel free to mention it in a comment. I always appreciate your ideas and thoughts…even if I don't always agree with them.

Lastly, here's one more thought to mull over: let's continue to be meaningful and constructive. Social media can sometimes devolve into "success theater" and I think that we can do better. As always, I'm a proponent of vulnerability and discourse. Let's keep the comments going and have a great 2013..